Lumber-curing kiln.



L GOODE. LUMBER CURING KILN.

APPLICATION man JULY 30.1912.

Patented May 1,1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET i.

R. Goodg.

INVENI L lnc o In L. GOODE.

LUMBER CURING KILN.

APPLICATION FILED JULY so, 1911.

Patented May 21, 1918.

3 SHiETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR Lincoln Geode.

L. GOODE.

LUMBER CURING KILN. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1911.

Patented May 21, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI 3.

[NV NTOR. L/rzco/n oode.

TOR NE V.

LINCOLN GOOJDE, 'Oli PITTSBUEG', CALIFORNIA.

IIUIWBER-QJURING- KYLE".

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, iltllld,

Application filed July 30, 1917. Serial lilo. 1%,466.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, LINCOLN Gooun, citizen of the United States, residing at Pitta burg, in the county of Contra Costa, State of California, have invented a new and use It will be understood by those skilled in the art that in curing lumber, it is necessary to maintain the lumber in an atmosphere of the proper temperature and of the proper moisture content to prevent its injury for such a time as is necessary to thoroughly dry it, and the moisture contained in the air must bevaried from time to time according to the condition of the lumber.

In other words, in a veryshort time the outer fibers of the lumber Will become as dry as they should be finally, while the inner fibers contain an excess of moisture. During this period, the air passing over the lumber must be moistened to prevent it from injuring the lumber by too rapid outside drying.

Later on, as the inner fibers become thoroughly cured, it is necessary to use air as dry as possible, in order to completely remove all of the moisture from the lumber, but this is not the case until near the time for the curing processto end.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds,

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings in which the same reference numeral is applied to the same portion throughout, but I am aware that there may be modifications thereof.

Figure 1 is an end elevation oi the kiln with the doors open and with the casing of the lower portion of the kiln removed for the purposes of illustration,

l i 2 is a plan view in section below the our upon which the steam pipes and car trach are laid,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a portion of the kiln adjacent the circulating fan, and

Fig. 4: is a plan view of a portion of the kiln showing the arrangement of the tracks and piping therein.

The kiln is installed within a building having vertical Walls 1, 2 and 3, covered with a roof 4 and strengthened with cross pieces 5, a vertical post 6 one end of the building serves to assist in holding the gable end, and said post rests upon a cross beam 7, said cross beam being supported by means of the posts 8 to 11 inclusive. The space between the walls and posts 8 to 11 inclusive is ordinarily filled by means of removable doors 12 to 16 inclusive, which have been removed from Fig. 1 for purposes of illustration.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, for the convenience of the kiln operator, the rails 17 to 20 inclusive, upon which the car loads of lumber are placed, are installed upon suitable stringers 21 to 2d mounted upon a series of posts 25, which are all of a convenient height to permit the operator to walk below the cross stringers 7 when attending to the air-conditions Within the kiln. Boards 26 are provided at the sides of the track for the convenience of the operator in examining the lumber on the cars, but the remaining space is covered with long strings ofsteam pipes 27,. 28 and 29, receiving steam from the risers 80, 31, 32 respectively, and which are connected with a main steam pipe 83, the latter having a Water trap 3% connected therewith. At the opposite end of the building the steam pipes are connected with one transverse pipe 35, which is in turn connected with a water trap 86 outside the building. Extending from end to end of the building, below the level of the tracks is a ventilating box 37. This box has a plurality of ventilator slides 38, which may be opened or closed to increase or diminish the supply of fresh air coming into the kiln; and in the walls of the kiln there are a plurality of dues 39, said dues having chimneys 40 extending above them to allow the escape of air from the kiln. Extending through the middle of the kiln is a" large air pipe 4-2 which has a plurality oi slides 43 opening and closing openings in said air pipe, as may be required by the condition of the lumber being treated. This air pipe receives its air them Y The branch pipes 46, 47 likewise have regulators 48 to determine the quantity of air they will receive. A steam pipe 4 9 extends down the center of the coil adjacent the pipe 42, and it has two spray devices 50, 51 connected therewith for the purpose of discharging steam into the kiln midity of the air falls too low.

It will of course be understood by those skilled in'the art that these steam pipes'have such valves as may be required to operate them at whatever The front of the ziln is closed when the lumber is in place by means of suitable" .doors 52.

It will also be understood by those skilled in the art ,that any suitable platform outside the kiln is used to enable the car loads of lumber to be run up to the level of the tracks 19 and 20, within the kiln, such platform forming no part of the present invention, however, and not being illustrated ere. :1 The operation of the kiln-is as follows :l- Assuming several car loads of lumber to have been placed therein, the doors 52 are closed and the. steam pipes 2? to 29 are heated to such a temperature as may be desirable to cure the lumber. The fan 44- is then started, \and as the air therefrom is thepipe 42 and delivered blown through to thev'arious parts ,of the kiln it passes up toward the roof and then down and into the branch pipes 46, 47, and back to the fan, the process being repeated indefinitely, and the air in the klln being in this way made substantially uniform throughout the same.

If the air as determined by an inspectlon of the lumber is too dry and is absorbing vmoisture therefrom so as to be liable to collapse the grain of the lumber, maypass some steam through 51 into the kiln and thereby bring up the humidity to a high enough point to prevent the rapid curing of the lumber.

when the hu- 'the ventilation while oints may be necessary.

lumber, and inlet circulate the air the attendant the pipes 50,"

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, while a comparatively small kiln has been illustrated in the drawings, ordinarily lumber kilns of this character are of a length of several hundred feet, and may have doors to permit the ingress and egress of the lumber cars at both ends if desired.

It is also to be observed that, in as' much as the openings into the dues 39 are near the floor of the kiln, practically a very small quantity of the hot air of the kiln is lost by it is being continually stirred up and shifted from one place to another in the building by means of the fan.

aving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows, express reservation being made of permissible modifications.

1. A lumberkiln comprising a building having inlet and outlet ventilating openings near the lower portion thereof, ear tracks vextending into the building and adapted to receive the cars with piles of lumber thereon, a fan, having pipes for circulating the air in said building, means to regulate the flow of air from said pipes as may be required at different points in the building, and spray pipes for increasing the humidity of the air in the building.

'2. A lumber kiln comprising a building having flues in the walls thereof, with ventilating openings below the supports for the ventilating trunk extending into the building and having a plurality of openings, a fan having inlet and discharge pipes extending into the building, each pipe having a plurality of openings, slides to control the fan pipe openings to in different parts of the kiln, and spray of the air in the kiln.

pipes to alter the humidity In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of July, A. D. 1917.

LTN'COLN GOODE. 

